Vehicular safety reel



Filed Nov. 14, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS Chester J. Barecki Bror W. Henrikson Walter E. Nordmark l0 BY Dzuuzwmdizmu $015070,

a/ub W ATTORNEYS Nov. 18, 1969 c. J. BARECKI 'ET'AL' 3,478,981

VEHI CULAR SAFETY REEL Filed Nos}. 14, 196'? 5 Sheets-Sheet INYENTORS Chester J. Boreckl Bror W. Henrikson Walter E. Nordmork BY @zuuzw7md4lftanz ha /w,

=a/wb 5W ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,478,981 VEHICULAR SAFETY REEL Chester J. Barecki, Bror W. Henrikson, and Walter E.

Nordmark, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignors to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 14, 1967, Ser. No. 682,907 Int. Cl. B65h 75/48 US. Cl. 242107.4

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A reel, which is adapted to be secured to the top or roof of a vehicle, comprises a hollow casing provided with a fixed plate having depending teeth and a verticallymovable inertia disk below the fixed plate and having upwardly-extending teeth normally spaced from the depending teeth of the fixed plate, the disk being guided on a vertical pin in the casing. A drum also guided by the pin extends below the inertia plate and has an upwardly-extending peripheral sleeve which encloses the inertia plate and the space between the teeth. A flat strap is mounted on the wide periphery of the drum and extends through the casing and downwardly about an occupant of the vehicle seat, the lower end of the strap being secured to a lower portion of the vehicle. Cooperating members are provided on the drum and inertia disk for raising the inertia disk in the case of a collision or sudden stopping of the vehicle so that the strap engages the shoulder of the occupant and restrains him against forward movement. After checking of the strap movement, the disk is allowed to fall under its own weight and free the strap and enable the occupant to move normally within the vehicle. The wide strap which engages the shoulder of the occupant Claims and which is utilized within the reel presents no hazard to forward movement of the occupant or other occupants in the car, while at the same time the wide drum receiving the strap is effective in enclosing and sealing the operating teeth of the engaging parts.

SUMMARY A wide strap for engaging the occupant and also for operating the safety reel is desired, and for this purpose a safety reel is provided having a wide drum with retaining flanges for the strap, and the wide drum is provided with a sleeve which encloses a vertically-movable inertia reel and the space between the teeth of the reel and the teeth of the fixed plate thereabove. The occupant may move normally in operating and driving the vehicle while, in case of sudden stoppage or deceleration of the vehicle, the broad strap prevents forward movement and it presents no hazard to other occupants to the rear of said occupant. At the same time, the structure utilizes gravity for immediately disconnecting the engaging teeth after the locking action occasioned by the sudden deceleration of the vehicle.

DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a reel embodying our invention and including the yoke or shoulder harness adapted to be extended about the occupant of the car; FIG. 2, a rear vie-w of the reel showing the operating mechanism at rest; FIG. 3, a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the mechanism in normal operating position; FIG. 4, a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the mechanism located in the hold position due to the sudden deceleration of the vehicle and forward pull of the strap; FIG. 5, a cross sectional view, the section being taken as indicated at line 5-5 of FIG. 1; FIG. 6, an exploded perspective view showing the parts of the reel in separated relation; FIG. 7, a bottom plan view of the strap housing or drum; and FIG. 8, a top plan view of the strap housing or drum.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the illustration given in FIGS. 1-8 inclusive, 10 designates the lower part of the hollow casing and 11 the upper part of the casing, the casing members being held together by screws 12. If desired, the sides of the casing may be provided with threaded openings 13 for receiving screws to attach the structure to a frame or other connecting parts for supporting the casing against the roof or top of the vehicle.

The lower casing 10 may be provided with a strap opening 14 in which is mounted a guide 15.

A strap 16 is connected to harness straps 16a by a yoke or evener 17 provided with slots 18 for receiving the straps 16a and with a slot 19 for receiving the end of strap 16. Strap 16 is bent upon itself and stitched at 20. The straps 16a are bent upon themselves at their ends and stitched at 21 and 22.

The lower casing member 10 is provided with a vertically-extending pivot pin 23, as shown best in FIG. 5, and supports a rotatable strap drum or housing 24 which receives strap 16. A coil return spring 25 is located in the lower portion of the casing and places a slight tension upon the strap tending to draw it within the casing while at the same time permitting sufiiciently free outward movement of the strap to permit the car occupant to move forwardly and rearw-ardly in the normal driving or riding positions. The spring 25 rests upon an apertured plate 26, and inside the disk 26 as a washer 27. The pivot pin 23 is integrally formed at its bottom with a flange 28 having upwardly-projecting rib portions 29, as shown best in FIG. 6.

The strap housing or drum 24 is provided with a central collar 30 which receives the pivot pin 23, and at its top is provided with cam members 31. The drum is also provided with lug recesses or sockets 32 extending between the cam members 31, as shown best in FIGS. 7 and 8.

Above the drum 24 is an inertia disk or plate 33 having at its top peripheral portion a series of ratchet teeth 34. The disk is centrally apertured at 35 to receive the collar 30 of the drum 24 and is thus rotatably mounted while also being vertically slidable. The disk 33 is provided with depending lugs 36, as shown best in FIG. 6, and received Within the slots 32 of the drum 24 so as to connect the drum and disk both in the lower and raised positions. The disk is also provided with cam recesses aligned with the cams 31 of drum 24 and provided with an inclined cam-engaging surface 31a, as shown best in FIG. 4.

Between the drum and disk members may be placed a spring 37 which urges the disk 33 slightly upwardly while permitting it to respond to a lower G force in the locking arrangement which will be described hereinafter.

Above the disk 33 is a fixed plate or disk 38 which is connected to the top casing member 11 by a series of pins 39, as shown best in FIG. 6. The plate 38 is provided on its underside with depending ratchet teeth 40 adapted to interlock with teeth 34 of disk 33 when disk 33 is moved upwardly due to a sudden deceleration of the vehicle.

An important feature of the structure is the strap drum or housing which is provided with an upwardly-extending sleeve portion 24a enclosing the inertia disk 33 and also the space between the teeth of the plate 38 and disk 33. The outer periphery of the drum 24 is provided at its upper and lower edges with strap-retaining rims 24b. Thus the drum 24 provides a wide retaining surface for receiving the force applied through the wide strap 16, while at the same time enclosing and sealing the area in which the teeth engage, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

In the operation of the safety reel structure, the strap 16 normally yields with movements of the occupant against the force of the relatively weak return spring 25, thus allowing the operator to move freely forwardly and laterally along the seat, but should the vehicle suddenly decelerate, causing the occupant to be thrown forwardly, the sudden rotation of the drum causes the inertia disk 33 to move upwardly under the force of cam 31 in engagement with the inclined recess surface 31a, as illustrated in FIG. 4, to bring about interlocking of the disk or inertia member 33 and the fixed plate 38. However, the cam-engaging surfaces 31 and 31a do not maintain the interlocking engagement, but separate due to gravity and thus enable the occupant immediately after the restraining movement to be free for carrying thrOugh other protective movements, such as, for example, turning off the motor, removing the harness, opening the door, or other movements which may be needed after the accident. The disk 33 drops under its own weight to the position shown best in FIG. 5, permitting the drum to rotate freely under the force of coil spring 25 only.

The coil return spring 25 may be secured in any suitable manner for rotating the reel to return the strap 16 thereto. In the specific structure shown best in FIG. 7, the spring has its outer end provided with a hook 41 which engages a recess 42 in the bottom of the reel housing 24, while the inner end of the spring is also provided with a hook 43 which engages one of the ribs 29 carried by plate 28 to anchor the hook end 43 to the non-rotatable bottom portion of the casing.

The strap 16 may be secured to the drum housing 24 by any suitable means. In the illustration shown in FIG. 8, the end of the strap 16 is folded upon itself about an attachment plate 44, and screws 45 pass through the plate and inwardly-turned strap portion and the side wall of the housing 24 to lock the strap firmly to the drum housing.

In the foregoing structure, the load is distributed over a wide area since the teeth of plates 33 and 38 are peripherally located, while at the Same time space is prO- vided interiorly for the compensating spring 37 which is effective in making the device respond to low G forces, preferably within the range of to 2 /2 Gs.

The wide channel of the drum 24 transmits the force applied through the wide strap 16 immediately to the drum, causing the drum to rotate evenly at a level below the movable inertia plate 33 while at the same time enclosing the area in which the teeth engage.

While we have shown the wide strap 16 connected to diverging harness straps 16a, it will be understood that the strap 16 may, itself, be extended to and around the shoulder or shoulders of the occupant, and the width of the strap is a further safety factor in that it does not present a hazard either to the occupant against whom the strap is applied or other occupants behind the firstmentioned occupant.

While in the foregoing specification we have set out specific structure in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating an embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that such details may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. In a vehicle safety reel structure, a hollow casing having a verticallypositioned pivot pin, a strap drum member in said casing rotatably mounted on said pin,

a wide strap about said drum having an end portion extending from said casing, spring means normally rotating said drum to draw the strap toward said drum, an inertia disk member rotatably and slidably mounted in said casing within said drum and provided wi h upwardly-extending ratchet teeth, lug and socket slide connections between said disk and drum, a fixed plate at the top of the casing provided with depending ratchet teeth adapted to interlock with the teeth of said inertia disk when the disk is raised but spaced therefrom when the disk is in its lower normally-operating position, said drum being provided with an upwardly-extending sleeve enclosing said inertia disk and with a bottom underlying said disk member, and cam means on said bottom actuated by sudden forward movement of said strap for raising said disk through its inertia to locking position but permitting said disk to drop to unlocking position imme diately after said interlocking engagement.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said strap extends through a side wall of said casing and downwardly for engagement with an occupant of the vehicle.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which said drum encloses said inertia disk and said fixed plate and is provided at its edges with strap-retaining rims.

4. In a reel structure, a hollow casing, a fixed plate secured to the top of the casing and having depending teeth, a vertically-movable inertia disk below said fixed plate and having upwardly-extending teeth normally spaced from said depending teeth, a guide pin vertically positioned in said casing and fixed to the bottom of the casing, said inertia disk being apertured to receive said guide pin, a drum also apertured to receive said pin and containing about its periphery a wide strap, and a coil spring fixed to said drum and casing for rotating said drum to bias said strap toward said drum, said drum being provided with elongated slots and said inertia disk being provided with depending lugs received within said slots for connecting said inertia disk and drum in all positions, said inertia disk being provided with cam slots providing inclined cam surfaces and said drum being provided with a periphery sleeve enclosing said inertia disk and with a bottom wall having spaced inclined cam projections aligned with said cam-engagement surfaces whereby upon sudden forward movement of said strap, as when the vehicle suddenly decelerates, said interia disk moves upwardly to bring its teeth into engagement with the teeth of said fixed plate to restrain outward movement of said strap, said inertia plate then dropping under its own weight to non-teeth-engaging position after said teeth engagement.

5. The structure of claim 4 in which said peripheral sleeve encloses the space between said inertia disk and said fixed plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,843,335 7/1958 Hoven et al. 242-107.4 2,989,267 6/1961 Mehl 242-1074 XR 3,308,902 3/1967 Carter 2.42-107.4 XR 3,323,749 6/1967 Karlsson 242107.4 3,335,974 8/1967 Glauser et al. 242107.4 3,415,462 12/1968 Barecki et al. 242.107.4

STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner W. SCI-IROEDER, Assistant Examiner 

